Using del.icio.us to save and share Bookmarks and Favorites.



SETTING THE STAGE (To be reviewed before the session begins.)

Session Overview
Preparation - Have an isquad del.icio.us account setup before presenting this lesson to the students. https://secure.del.icio.us/register
In this session, participants will learn about social bookmarking and how to use del.icio.us to save bookmarks.

Focusing Questions
What is social bookmarking?
How can I login and post to my school isquad's del.icio.us account?

Materials
The following materials are used in this session:
-Laptops
-Projector
-SmartBoard

Resources
The following resources are used in this session:
Using del.icio.us


INSTRUCTION (Typically lasts about 20% of session.)

Framing the Session
Give participants an introduction to del.icio.us. Here is a link to "What is del.icio.us?"
Explain to the students that many times teachers want to share online resources with their students. Using del.icio.us will let the iSquad members help their teachers and classmates find online resources.
Visit the isquad site, http://del.icio.us/isquad, and show them how social bookmarking can streamline navigating and searching websites.
“How many of you have needed to remember a website address, but weren’t sitting at your regular computer?”
"Your teachers have been asking me where to go to find information and tutorials about their computer and subject. Using del.icio.us will help them to find what they saved quickly."

Teaching
Demonstrate for participants:
“Watch me as I show you how to visit the isquad del.icio.us site.”

Step 1
Introduce social bookmarking by stating the following:

What is social bookmarking?
Social bookmarking is a website that allows you to save website addresses. It has two benefits. First, it allows you to share your bookmarks with other people. This is beneficial when collaborating with others. Second, using a social bookmarking site allows you to see your bookmarks from any computer on the Internet.

For example, say that you’ve found a site that you think is useful. You want to save this link as a favorite or bookmark so that you can refer back to it. Traditionally, you would bookmark the link in your computer’s browser program. But now, there is a website called del.icio.us that allows you to store your favorites or bookmarks online! This means that you can access them from any computer and you can share your links with other people.

Step 2
Open a browser window and model visiting the school's isquad del.icio.us account. It should be easy to remember and have a simple login and password. Tell the students that they will be adding links to their school’s isquad.

Step 3
Demonstrate logging into the school's isquad del.icio.us page. Here is their tutorial.

Step 4
Demonstrate posting a link to the del.icio.us account by clicking on the “post” link at the top. In a new browser window, find a page that you want to save. Highlight the address and copy it. Paste it in the url text box and press save. Next, give it a brief description, which becomes the title. Further descriptors can be added in the Notes box.

Guided Practice
Tell the participants that, “Now it is your turn to try it.” Have them find relevant links and post them on the school's isquad del.icio.us account.

WORK TIME (Typically lasts about 60–70% of session.)

Getting Started
Tell participants to take the next 30 minutes to research relevant links, post them on their school's isquad del.icio.us page and that afterwards, there will be a share.

Participant Activity
Post the “Work Time” slide on the session’s PowerPoint and review the following steps, making sure that all participants clearly understand them:

Step 1
Visit the isquad del.icio.us page and review what is meant by social bookmarking.

Step 2
Log into your isquad’s del.icio.us account and bookmark your links with descriptions and notes.

Facilitator Conferring
Circulate around the room and confer with participants. Take note of particularly good examples of work that can be presented during the Share.

SHARE (Typically lasts about 10–20% of session.)

Ask selected participants to share particularly good examples of their work.
Lead a discussion about how this work addresses the focusing questions.

PowerPoint Presentation for "Get Going with del.icio.us".


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Author: John Natuzzi
Email: jnatuzz@schools.nyc.gov
School/Employer: MS131M
Title: Technology Coordinator/Coach


TEMPLATE DESCRIPTION

Each session contains the following components and can be conducted in 45–60 minutes:

Session Overview
This is a concise summary of the session, and how it fits into the training series as a whole.

Focusing Questions
These are the specific questions that guide the session. The purpose of the session is to address these questions.

Materials
This is a list of all materials that the facilitator must make sure are present at the training site, including technology resources.

Resources
All handouts can be found linked from the Resources section of the participant agenda. Participants will be able to access these materials online during the session, but the facilitator should review them ahead of time, and any instructional support charts should be posted in the room before the session begins.

Framing the Session
The facilitator explains to the participants what will be covered in this session, how it fits into the training series as a whole, and how it may be incorporated into their reflective practice.

Teaching
This is a short period of facilitator-led instruction designed to prepare the participants for their work time. The facilitator might demonstrate a specific use of technology in an authentic curricular context, selected participants might be invited to share relevant experiences, or the group as a whole might contribute to a shared brainstorming list. The facilitator should be careful to avoid giving a lengthy lecture or straying too far from the focusing questions.

Guided Practice
Sometimes it is helpful for the facilitator to walk the participants through a process step by step. This gives the participants the hands-on experience of work time before losing the scaffolding of facilitator-led instruction.

Getting Started
The facilitator gives instructions to the participants for their work time, and lets them know what they will be expected to share at the end of the session.

Participant Activity
Participants are given time to practice the specific process they have seen demonstrated. They may be working independently, with a partner, or in small groups.

Facilitator Conferring
As participants work, the facilitator moves around the room holding short conferences to help guide the work and make it more productive. The facilitator should be at eye level with participants during each conference. These conversations need not be especially private; the facilitator may invite someone sitting nearby to listen in. If common needs among the group emerge, they can either be addressed immediately or during the sharing time.

Share
Participants gather at the end of the session to demonstrate what they have done, discuss experiences they have had, and reflect on what they have learned. This is an opportunity to return to the focusing questions that began the session, and discuss what has been accomplished in the interval.

Acknowledgements
This section acknowledges those who contributed to the creation of this session.